ECONOMIC CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21201, 6 June 1932, Page 11

ECONOMIC CONFERENCE.

STABILISING PRICE LEVELS.

UNITED STATES ATTITUDE. EXCLUSION OF WAR DEBTS. Approval of the decision of tho British and American Governments to try to hold a world economic conference to consider methods of stabilising commodity prices was expressed last week by Professor A. 11. Tocker, professor of economics at Canterbury College. Professor Tocker said that it was not surprising that proposals should be made and readily accepted for a world conference on matters connected with prices. It was surprising, however, that while America should be ready to discuss matters relating to prices, it should emphatically point out that war debts, reparations and disarmament should bo excluded from the agenda. " Since Great Britain suspended tho gold standard in September last," Professor Tocker said, " prices in tho gold standard countries liavo continued to fall and tho depression has been deepened. In Great Britain and in most other countries which have adopted the sterling standard, however, the price fall has been checked and some prices havo risen. Consequently, though no great improvement has yet been effected in those countries, conditions have been more stable and tho prospect of improvement is definitely better. " Meanwhile, in the gold standard countries, particularly tho United States, conditions have been getting worse. Tho United States is now becoming alarmed at the magnitude of its Budget deficit and at the failure of the measures so far taken to promote a recovery. It is becoming more widely realised that the level of prices is governed by international conditions, rather than by tho influences operating within any particular country. "It is therefore not surprising that proposals should be made and readily accepted for a world conference on matters connected with prices. It is surprising, though, that while America should ho ready to discuss currency, foreign exchange, the gold standard, silver, trade, and other matters, she should emphatically point out that war debts, reparations and disarmament should be excluded from tho agenda of the conference. " There are leading authorities who consider that reparations and war debts are the chief cause of the present worldwide depression. Others consider it due to the scarcity and maldistribution of gold, while many others still blame it on to a variety of factors, including tariffs and trade restrictions, over-production of certain staples, high, rigid costs, etc. There is, therefore, a strong case for bringing together experts of different countries, holding different points of view, to make an impartial investigation of the facts to try to reveal the underlying causes of the depression and prescribe whatever remedies their diagnosis may suggest, "Ifit is true—as many people suspect—that the lack of international agreement and co-operation in the management of the gold standard is an important cause of tho slump, international co-opera-tion is surely necessary to remove those causes and promote a recovery."